10 Roses
by Daughter of Vayu
Summary: Tezuka always saw him, looking from behind the camera lens. Momoshiro only saw him through the lens of his camera. What if they gazes finally meet each others? AU since Momo didn't join tennis club. TezuMomo. Light shounen-ai. Rated just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : Call me crazy but I really wanted to try this out since there's lack of this pairing (TezuMomo) and this really not mainstream. Wish me luck! If you don't like it, you can leave it. In order to continue this, I need some positive review, or I'll simply discontinue this. Please read and review!**

**Warning : AU because Momoshiro didn't play tennis instead he was in newspaper club. Light shounen-ai. Grammatical error.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Through the Lens**

* * *

Momoshiro Takeshi smiled as he looked at his first camera. Nothing too fancy. Just a normal prosumer camera, but he was glad with it. He tried to snap a few pictures of his class mates to familiarize himself with his new camera. Momo smiled, satisfied with this camera. He sat casually on the windowsill and stared down at the tennis court where he could see the members of tennis team were practicing as usual.

"Ne, Momoshiro-kun? Are you really planning on joining newspaper club? I heard that you used to play tennis before… Seigaku has a good tennis club by the way…" said one of his class mate (he thought her name was Chiharu or something).

Momo only bite his lip at this comment and shook his head.

"I'm quitting tennis. Anyway, I really enjoyed photography right now," said Momo. He didn't want to remember it. He really didn't want to. Unconsciously his hand moves to his right foot and grasped it. "Are you joining newspaper club too?" asked Momo. He smiled brightly at the girl.

"Uhm… No. I'll join girls' tennis club," said her. "I'll see you tomorrow, Momoshiro-kun."

The girl walked out of the class room while Momo once again playing with his camera. He looked around the tennis court and saw Kaidoh Kaoru among the others first years. He stood out as usual with his green bandana and so on. Momo chuckled a little and took a picture of Kaidoh who was picking up ball on the court. He tried to take a picture of another member of tennis club when he saw one face.

He was wearing Seigaku regular's jersey with a serious expression on his face. His glasses covered his yellow-ish brown eyes. Momo smiled as his hand moves to the shutter and his left hand adjust the focus of his camera.

Snap!

Momo smiled.

* * *

He knew Kaidoh since a long time ago. They were rivals, or that was how they called themselves if not best friend (which was none of them like this term). It was a ritual for Momo to be in Kaidoh's house every evening just to annoy the boy. Since they went to the same school (again) it was easier for Momo to go to Kaidoh's house.

"Ah! Takeshi-kun! You come just in time to try my new sponge cake!" Kaidoh's mother greeted him with a bright smile on her face. She always liked Momo, since the boy would eat whatever experimental cooking she made and gave her an honest opinion.

"Thank you, Hozumi-san! Is Kaidoh home?" he asked.

"Ara? Kaoru haven't got home yet. But you can wait for him in his room. Here, take this with you," Kaidoh's mother handed him a plateful of sponge cake. Momo smiled and went to Kaidoh's room. He made himself comfortable and ate the cake. As usual, it tasted great. Momo only smiled brightly. He drank the tea that Kaidoh's mother prepared for him and pulled out his camera from his bag.

He turned it on and browsed at the picture he took today. His candid shots of his class mates made him smiled as he browsed further until the shots from tennis court. Once again, his hand went to his leg and he sighed.

Momo looked up as the door to the room was opened and a certain snake-like boy stood by the door.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" asked the boy.

"Oh! Mamushi! You home!" said Momo as he grinned at the boy. Momo liked to call Kaidoh Kaoru 'Mamushi' since they were in elementary school because of a documentary film about Viper snake. Since then, Momo always called Kaidoh as Mamushi.

"What are you doing in _my _room?" asked Kaidoh.

"You're Mom asked me about her new sponge cake and let me wait for you here," said Momo. "It's not like I'm bothering you."

"You are."

"Anyway, you should look at the shots I took today! They were awesome!" said Momo as he showed Kaidoh the pictures. Kaidoh looked at them passively and he stopped at the shot of him. He blushed a bit at the picture.

"You took my picture, you moron!" said Kaidoh.

"What's wrong with that? It's a good one though, with all the composition and lightning. Geez, Mamushi…"

Still a bit blushing, Kaidoh went to the next picture when he saw the picture of a certain boy.

"You took picture of Tezuka-fukubuchou?" asked Kaidoh.

"Fukubuchou?" asked Momo. "Ah! So he was the vice-captain! Well, I just took random pictures of tennis club."

There were pregnant silence between them when finally Kaidoh turned the camera off and handed it to Momo. Momo filled the room with a one-sided conversation about the awesome cake Kaidoh's mom make and how he liked it while Kaidoh's mind was on a totally different matter.

"Do you miss it?" asked Kaidoh.

"What?"

"Tennis."

"Oh."

"Well?"

Momo only smiled at his rival. "Well, there's nothing we can do, right? I'll just deal with it."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."

"Still…"

"I don't want to talk about it, Mamushi," _I really don't_, he added in his mind. Momo stood up and gathered his thing and threw it into his back pack before placed his camera carefully. "I better head home now."

Momo left after he thanked Kaidoh's mom and gave her his honest opinion which caused the woman to squeal at her success. She forced him to bring some for his family which Momo accepted gladly. He headed home after that.

Tennis, huh?

* * *

He was accepted in newspaper club the next day. With his tennis background, he was asked to cover the news from tennis club which he gladly accepted. Their school newspaper wasn't ordinary newspaper. It was almost as professional as Pro-Tennis Magazine, so it wasn't easy to join this club.

As his first job, he would documented the tennis club's practice this afternoon for future reference and collect some information about the current freshmen. It wasn't an easy task, but with the helps from his senpai and his friends, he thought he would make it.

Right now, he was standing outside the court with his camera ready as he took picture of the tennis club. He could see the second year with their green jerseys and the regulars with their white and blue jerseys. He took as many pictures as he could. That was when he caught the sight of Kaidoh. He chuckled and took another picture of the snake-boy.

He shifted his gaze at the other side of the court when he saw him again. Still with the stoic expression. He was talking to another regulars (Momo guessed he was the captain of tennis club) seriously. The captain nodded and shouted orders to the members as they started practice match between regulars.

"You there! What are you doing?" a stern voice shouted from the court.

Momo took his eyes from the camera and looked up. In front of him, there was the vice-captain, stood tall with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He threw a sharp glare at Momo which Momo countered with a nervous smile.

"Eeh… I… I'm from newspaper club…" he answered, suddenly feeling nervous. What on earth?!

"And?"

"Uhm… I want to make report about the tennis club activity if it's okay…?" asked Momo.

The vice-captain nodded and left him. Momo sighed as he knew he wasn't in any troubles. Only God knew what would happen if he ruined the relationship between newspaper club and tennis club.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu-san, huh?" Momo wondered. He smiled slightly as he remembered the name.

Tezuka Kunimitsu.

* * *

**Note :**

**fukubuchou : Vice-captain**

**senpai : upperclassmen.**

* * *

**A/N : Now this is chapter one! Tell me whaddaya think! pls, no flame!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N : Hoi hoi! This is chapter two of 10 Roses! Not much of a review I see, but thanks anyway! As long as I know there're people out there who actually read this story, I'm glad!**

**More note, I really don't know the name of third year captain when Tezuka was vice-captain so I use Kiyasu Kouhei (see if you know who is he!) as the name of the captain. Feel free to correct me!**

**Warning : Same as before. Feel free to correct my grammar! Beware OOC-ness!**

**Disclaimer : (forgot to put this before) I own nothing and I make no profit of writing this story.**

**On with the story! Don't forget to review~!**

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**Chapter 2**

**Afternoon Practice**

* * *

"That freshman… He always here every afternoon…" Oishi Shuuichirou commented as he looked at the boy who stood with his camera behind the fence of the courts. Tezuka Kunimitsu followed his gaze and stared stoically at the freshman. If he wasn't mistaken, the boy was from newspaper club...

"Nya~? What is it, Oishi?" Kikumaru Eiji came up with his racquet in hand.

"We were talking about that boy with camera…"

"Ah? Momo? His name is Momoshiro Takeshi, but he forced everyone to call him 'Momo-chan'. He's from newspaper club," said Kikumaru.

"You know him?" asked Oishi.

"Almost everyone knows him. He's very friendly and lovable guy. Quite popular with girls by the way."

Tezuka listened to the conversation while his gaze never left the boy who was busy taking picture. Momoshiro Takeshi was quite tall for a boy at his age, with spiky styled hair. He was a bit muscular, so Tezuka could understand if the boy was actually playing some sport. Seishun Gakuen was famous because of its sport clubs anyway. But why did he choose newspaper club? It wasn't like they playing any sport in their free time.

Tezuka quickly dismiss the thought from his head. He didn't really understand about this sudden interest in other people's business. He focused his attention to the tennis club and preventing him to think about the camera lens that started to focus on him.

Momo's finger moved to the shutter as he got a great focus on the fukubuchou's face. He smiled as he snapped the picture of the same stoic expression. Momo stayed until the end of practice while and decided to wait for Kaidoh.

"Oy! You!"

Momo glanced around. He saw three sophomores approaching him from the tennis court. Momo put his camera in his bag before he faced them. From the way they looked, Momo could guess something bad would happen. He wasn't weak, he was certainly NOT afraid of them. He, like everybody told him, was hot-headed.

"What is it, senpai?" asked Momo.

"Stop bothering the tennis practice!" said one of the senpai. "You're camera is enough to distract the attention of our members."

"Tezuka-fukubuchou already gave me his permission!" said Momo. He didn't mean to yell, but that was how he rolls. He yelled at the senpai.

"What's with that attitude, you punk?!" another senpai grabbed the collars of Momo's uniform and pulled towards him. The other senpai rummaged through his bag and retrieved his camera with a hateful smirk on his face.

"Hey, Yamazaki! We got the camera here!" said he.

"Good, Yamamoto!" said the first senpai. "Now watch, freshman, we'll make sure you wouldn't bother our practice with your camera again!"

The senpai who held his camera—Yamamoto—took a swing to throw his camera. Momo quickly reacted. He let go the senpai's grasp on his collars and jumped to protect his camera from hitting the ground. Momo managed to save his camera, but before he could checked the condition of his precious thing, he saw a swing of tennis racket aimed to his arm. The next thing he knew, three of them started to hit him with their rackets; on the head, shoulders, arms, stomach… If Momo didn't think about his camera he would stood up and fight back, but it was impossible right now.

So, he curled up on the ground, protecting his camera while he took the beating. He knew he could managed it until the senpai tired or the tennis club members would walk passed the court when they wanted to go home, but he quickly changed his mind as the racket hit his right knee. Momo grasped.

Looking at his reaction, the senpai got more serious about hitting him. This time, most of them aimed to his knee, which now felt really hurt. They also added kicking to it. Momo tried to ignore his pain and he tried to protect his injured knee. Now he started to lose consciousness by the overflowing pain from his right knee. This is not good. Really not good.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

A voice could be heard yelling at the upperclassmen. They suddenly stopped hitting Momo and stood still. Momo blinked as he tried to let his blurry vision to make out who was in front of him.

"T-Tezuka-fukubuchou!" they said nervously.

Tezuka?

"How many years do you play tennis?! Racket isn't something you use to hurt people! You've disgrace our club. I will never tolerate this kind of attitude towards anyone. I'll report you guys to the captain and Ryuuzaki-sensei for further punishment. 200 laps, NOW!"

The senpai quickly ran to the tennis court and started their laps. Tezuka kneeled beside Momo and helped him stood. Momo groaned when he felt the pain from his right knee. Tezuka walked him to a nearby bench and checked on Momo's injuries.

"Tezuka! What happened?!" Oishi quickly came to the bench with concerned look on his face.

"Momoshiro! Tezuka-fukubuchou!" this time, Kaidoh followed close along with the other sophomore.

"Oishi, get some icing. Fuji; call Ryuuzaki-sensei and the captain to deal with the three sophomores who are doing their punishment about this. Kaidoh, help me to bring him to the infirmary."

Oishi quickly ran to find some icing while Fuji Shuusuke was off to find Ryuuzaki Sumire; the coach of tennis club. Tezuka and Kaidoh helped Momo to go to infirmary. There weren't much open wounds, just some bruises and a throbbing pain in his knee.

"Oy! What happened back then?! How do you feel?" asked Kaidoh when he put some ice that Oishi brought on Momo's knee to reduce the pain.

"I'm fine, Mamushi. My camera?" Momo asked as he looked around the infirmary to find his precious camera.

"Here," said Oishi as he handed Momo's camera.

"Kiyasu-buchou and Ryuuzaki-sensei are talking to those three. I need to hear your side of story," Tezuka came forward and stood in front of Momo. "Now, tell us what happened."

And so, Momo told them about what happened. Oishi kept the icing on his knee while preparing the first aid kit box and started to clean up Momo's wounds. Tezuka nodded after he heard the problem. He stood up and walked up to the door.

"I'll tell sensei about what happened. Kaidoh, it seemed you know each other, so you can walk him home," said Tezuka.

"Yes, fukubuchou!" said Kaidoh.

After Tezuka walked out of the room, the door burst open and the familiar face of Kikumaru Eiji appeared.

"I heard from Fuji!" said Kikumaru. "Momo are you okay?"

"Ah… Kikumaru-senpai! I'm okay!" said Momoshiro as he smiled at the read head sophomore. "Tezuka-fukubuchou helped me."

"Osh! Leave it to me! I'll walk you home with Kaidoh!" said Kikumaru threw his usual bright smile. "Oishi, sorry I can't walk home with you today. I'll make it up to you tomorrow, okay?"

Oishi smiled.

"Okay, Eiji. I'll go to Tezuka first."

Oishi left, leaving Momo, Kaidoh and Kikumaru. Kikumaru beamed his bright smile and grabbed Momo's hand and left the infirmary. They walked rather slowly since Momo's knee starting to hurt again. Kikumaru tried to ease Momo's mind by kept talking to him. Kaidoh gave his usual "Fshuuuuu…"

* * *

"How's he, Oishi?" asked Tezuka as Oishi walked to the office. There were Ryuuzaki-sensei and Kiyasu Kouhei, the captain of the tennis club, Fuji Shuusuke, and the three trouble maker. All of them waiting for Oishi's reply.

"He already headed home with Kaidoh and Eiji. There're also several bruises but nothing major. Only the pain on his knee because of the beating he took," Oishi said as he glared dagger at the three members of tennis club. "I don't think Momoshiro is at fault of this. He was indeed get permission from Tezuka to take picture of our tennis team for newspaper club."

"I also gave him permission," said Ryuuzaki Sumire. "The advisor of newspaper club already talked to me a few months ago. It is like an agreement between newspaper club and tennis club to give permission for them to report the club's activities. Only some of us," Ryuuzaki glared at the three trouble maker, "Thought that it was distracting to have camera aimed at you which is ridiculous. You should know that in real match, there will be more than one single camera. Stop looking a reason to beat up a freshman just because you're frustrated not being chosen as regulars."

"Ryuuzaki-sensei, I think we can give them detention for two weeks," said Kiyasu. "Not practice with racket but to collect balls and set up the court for practice."

"Isn't it a bit light punishment?" asked Fuji. "They beat up a freshman with racket."

"But there's no major wound, right Oishi-kun?"

"Y-yes," said Oishi.

"Make it a month. And two hundred laps every morning before practice and two hundred laps every afternoon practice," said Tezuka. "Is that fine, buchou?" asked Tezuka to Kiyasu.

"Okay, if Tezuka-kun says so."

Later, they left together. Fuji asked for detailed information about Momo's wounds and for a second, his expression turned out stern.

"Was he okay?" asked Tezuka.

"I think he's fine. But he better go to a doctor to check his knee. I don't think the beating would hurt his knee this much," said Oishi. "I'll call Eiji and ask him later. I'll see you tomorrow, Fuji, Tezuka!"

Fuji smiled at Oishi and waved. The two of them then walked in silence while Tezuka was drowning in his own mind before Fuji started to talk to him.

"You concerned about him?" asked Fuji. "I can tell just by the way you brows furrowed."

"Well, those three had disgrace out team…"

"Not about that. Momoshiro."

"What do you mean?"

"You always look at him you know? On the court, when no one's noticing. But I did and always do. You kept looking at the freshman with the camera in his hand."

"I was wondering if he actually wanted to join tennis club…" said Tezuka. "Just that."

"Really? Well, it's unusual…"

"Enough, Fuji. That's your sister's car. I'll see you tomorrow," said Tezuka.

Fuji smiled at him before he greeted his sister and hoped into the car. Tezuka watch the car until it disappeared around the corner. He stood there, not moving an inch as he tried to recall the events this afternoon. Suddenly he blushed.

The stoic Tezuka Kunimitsu blushed in the middle of the street because of…

What in the world happened to him?!

* * *

**A/N : That's it... A bit lame don't you think? Well *shrugged* I'll try my best next time! Please read and review. A review would be nice to keep me going...**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N : This is the third chapter for 10 Roses... Thank you for all who had reviewed this story, favorite and follow this story. Especially for the reviewers who keep my spirit up! Thank you very much! *bow***

**Warning : light shounen-ai and so on... the same as before. Beware of grammatical errors! Feel free to tell me!**

**Oooh! On with the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**The Reason Why**

* * *

Kaidoh would never consider Momoshiro as his best friend. They were rivals. Whatever Momo could do, Kaidoh could do it also. At least until _that_ accident happened. Kaidoh was forced to watch as Momo's dream destroyed. They weren't best friend. They were rivals. But maybe that was why Kaidoh could understand how much it hurt. Kikumaru made sure that Momo was home safely before he left. Kaidoh decided to stay for awhile.

Momoshiro's mother looked happy as she saw Kaidoh and invited him over for dinner. But when she saw her son, the kind woman started to freak out.

"Takeshi! What happened?" she asked. "Oh my God… Look what happened to you! Are you involved in some fight at school? Who did this to you?"

"Kaa-chan… I'm okay. Stop fussing about it!" said Momo. He was blushing because of his mother reaction.

But it seemed like his mother didn't take it. She turned to Kaidoh. "Well, Kaoru-kun?"

Momo gave him a pleading look to stop Kaidoh from telling the whole story, but Kaidoh ignored him. He told her about what exactly happened and it caused much more complicated reaction.

"Kaa-chan, stop making a scene! It's not a big deal…"

"Not a big deal?! Listen, young man, I won't let anyone hurt my son in such way and get away unpunished!"

"Tezuka-senpai already gave them their punishments…"

"Not enough!"

"Kaa-chan…"

"I'll talk to your father…"

Before Momo could stop her, his mom already left. Momo threw a glare at Kaidoh which the boy answered with a hiss. The next time they knew, Momo's mom already dragged them to the hospital to get the bruises checked. The doctor okayed everything that there were no major injuries and he checked Momo's knee. The doctor said he shouldn't do too much walk and gave him a crutch to help him walked around so he wouldn't give too much burden on his foot. Momo groaned at the crutch but he accepted it nevertheless.

Kaidoh finally left almost at ten o'clock. Momo's mom never stopped thanking him no matter how many times Kaidoh said it was Tezuka-fukubuchou who saved Momo. So she made it her own goal to thank Tezuka personally (which stopped by Momo before he got more embarrassed).

"I'm sorry," said Kaidoh.

"What are you sorry for?" asked Momo as he stood on the front door before Kaidoh's leaving.

"Well, you were waiting for me at the tennis court…"

"Shut up, Mamushi. You just always take the blame, huh?" said Momo. "Don't try to act cool. It doesn't suit you. Doesn't suit you at all."

"Fshuuuuu…" Kaidoh hissed.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mamushi."

* * *

The next time Momo appeared on the tennis court, he used his crutch with his camera in his hands. It was rather hard to control the focus and pushed the shutter with the crutch and all, so Momo decided to put away his crutch and stood there by putting all his weight on the other foot. From afar, he could see Kikumaru waved rather excited at him with a bright smile on his face. He waved back and beamed brightly.

"Momo! How's your leg?" Oishi appeared beside of him.

"It's nothing, really!" he said.

"Why are you still here?" asked Tezuka as he walked towards Momo. "You should rest or at least sit down somewhere. Standing there only make your leg worse."

"I'm fine," Momo mumbled.

"Nonsense!"

Suddenly, Tezuka stopped when he realized something. Why did he concern about this freshman well-being? Why it infuriated him to see how much this freshman carelessness about his own condition? And why he started to ask question to himself like this? Tezuka realized that recently he wasn't himself. Something had change, and Tezuka didn't even sure whether he liked it or not. He glanced at Fuji who gave him that weird look. Behind Fuji, there were Inui Sadaharu who was jotting something on his notebook and Kawamura Takashi who was quiet even though he held racket in his hand.

"I'm sorry. Go back to practice," said Tezuka. He turned around and got back to the court where he practiced with a senior.

Momo smiled as he shot with his camera. His finger moved to the shutter and…

Snap!

Snap!

Snap!

He got the pictures he wanted.

When he printed all his photos, Momo realized something.

Most of the frames are the pictures of the one and only Vice-captain of tennis club; Tezuka Kunimitsu.

What on earth?!

* * *

When Momo sat on the bench next to the tennis court, he checked all the pictures he could take today. He was starting to feel like a fanboy of tennis club or something. All this time, he could see how much girls gathered around the court just to see the members play tennis. Especially the second-years like Fuji, Tezuka, Oishi or Kikumaru. They seemed like the most popular guy.

"Are you done for today?"

The question made Momo looked up. He saw Tezuka, still in his regulars' jersey stood beside his bench. He was a bit sweaty after the practice match he had done with Kikumaru. Momo only glanced slightly and mumbled his answer.

"Yeah."

"You always came at practice. Why don't you join the club?" asked Tezuka. "You play tennis?"

"I was. Not anymore."

"You stopped?"

"Well, things happened in the pass. Thank you for letting me watch the practice," said Momoshiro.

"Want to do some light practice?" asked Tezuka.

"With this?" Momo gestured at his crutch. "I don't think so."

"Figures," said Tezuka. "Is it still hurt?"

"Not really. Thanks for asking, Tezuka-senpai," answered Momo. "Isn't that ranking match will be held tomorrow? I heard from Kikumaru-senpai."

"Yes."

"Ah, well… Do your best, Fukubuchou!" said Momo with his usual bright smile.

"Of course."

With that, Tezuka left. Momo only smiled as once again he pulled up his camera and focused the lens. His finger moved to the shutter and… snap!

He got a picture of Tezuka's back.

Momo smiled.

* * *

"The reason why he stopped tennis?" Oishi repeated Tezuka's words. "What on earth… Why do you suddenly care about it?"

"Curious," said Tezuka.

"You are kidding me, right? There's no way it's just mere curiosity. You're starting to act out of character lately. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Just… forget it. Sorry for bothering you…" before Oishi could say anything, Tezuka already left for his class.

* * *

Things just got weirder and weirder for Tezuka. Frustrated enough, he won all his matches with 6-0. He didn't dare to look away from the court, because out there, behind the fence, Momoshiro stood; ready with his camera. He could see Kikumaru exchanged joke with Momo and soon after, Oishi already joined them along with Kawamura. Fuji came up to him and smiled as usual.

"You really are something today, Tezuka," said Fuji. "Ara? That boy also came today?"

"There's 87,5% that the boy has certain effect on you… Hmm… this is a good data…" Inui as usual mumbled and wrote something in his notebook.

Tezuka ignored his friends. This was already too much without them adding oil to the fire. If only looks could kill, Inui would probably sprawl on the court with a pool of blood around him and his body was cut into pieces. If only looks could kill.

"Enough," said Tezuka. Even the stoic captain had turned into a bloody mess. He walked up to Kiyasu-buchou and talked to him. He needed something to get his mind off of a certain freshman. Tezuka felt the need to settle this matter. He was still wondering why Momo didn't join the tennis club. He looked healthy enough to play. His physique indicated that he used to train his body. Why he didn't continue tennis? Bored? If he bored, he would never come every day to watch the practice. Somehow, Tezuka got the feeling that Momoshiro still wanted to continue to play.

"Kaidoh, can I talk to you for a second?"

Tezuka stopped the freshman after Kaidoh gathered all his things. Kaidoh looked up at his senpai before nodded. Tezuka gestured him to sit on the bench while he stood, his back resting on the lockers. Kaidoh looked at him passively.

"How can I help you, Fukubuchou?" asked Kaidoh.

"Why did he stop to play?" Tezuka asked straight to the point.

"Who?" Kaidoh kept asking even though he had an idea about who they were talking about.

"Momoshiro."

"Why do you want to know?"

Why? Tezuka didn't even know the reason why. Why did he care? Pity? Certainly not. But then why? He kept asking himself the same question, and he never got the answer. Just a simple question of why.

"He always comes to our practice, never missing a day. He seemed fit as a tennis player, yet he didn't join our club. It doesn't seem like he got bored of it, because if he did, he wouldn't watch us practice. Then why?"

"You should ask him directly," said Kaidoh. There was something in his voice which alerted Tezuka. "It's not my place to tell you."

"But you know?"

"I—"

"You can tell him, Mamushi."

Suddenly the clubhouse door opened and Momoshiro stood by the doorstep. Tezuka and Kaidoh turned their heads towards him. "I'm sorry for barging in. I was waiting for Mamushi outside when I heard the conversation. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but when I heard my name being mentioned, I couldn't help myself."

"It's okay. I should've talk to you directly anyway," said Tezuka. "Then why do you quit tennis?"

Kaidoh refused to look at Momo, and Momo just let out a small sigh and smiled as if nothing's wrong.

"Because I can't play it anymore. Not with this leg."

* * *

**A/N : That's for today. Stay tune for the next chapter... Review can fueled up my muse!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N : Somehow, I'm not really satisfied with this chapter... Something seemed lost, but I don't know what it is... I'm sorry for the very late update since I'm currently writing another fanfiction (Slam Dunk and Kuroko no Basket)...**

**Anyway, thanks for the review. And for Mamita about lemon... hmmmm... I don't think I can write it (I blush like mad when I'm writing a kissing scene)... anyone up to this request? Hehe, sorry... *bow***

**Warning : (look at first chapter)**

**Disclaimer : Me no own, you no sue.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**White Heather**

* * *

**_One year later_**

* * *

"That senpai… He always there during practice, right?" Katou Kachirou asked his fellow freshman who were also tennis club member. Right now, they were collecting ball into the basket as they watched the second years and regulars trained on the court.

"What do you mean, Kachirou-kun?" asked Mizuno Katsuo, his friend. He followed his friend's gaze to a tall second-years student with a camera on his hands. "Now that you mention it, I just realized. Who is he by the way?"

"It's Momoshiro Takeshi-senpai!" said another freshman, Horio Satoshi. "He's from newspaper club and currently worked as free-lance photographer for Pro-Tennis Magazine."

"Hee? Horio-kun sure knows much about trivial tennis fact…" said Katsuo.

"Of course. I am, after all, have two years tennis experience!" Horio boasting as usual; this only caused Katsuo and Kachirou to let out a nervous laugh at their friend's weird behavior.

Momoshiro Takeshi enjoyed his usual routine. Even though he was still in middle school, he was well-known as a free-lance photographer. Most of his photos were published in Pro-Tennis Magazine as a request from Inoue Mamoru; a reporter from the same magazine. Beside, sometimes he helped Inoue-san to write an article concerning Seigaku's tennis team. Momo was glad though, since he had more reason to watch how the practice went.

His glance turned to three freshmen who were chatting to each other while picking up the balls. Momo smiled as he took a picture of them and walked casually towards them.

"What are you guys talking about here?" asked Momo as he reached the freshmen. Three of them were surprised at his sudden appearance. They only looked at him as he threw his best smile at them.

"Momoshiro-senpai!" the three of them was quite nervous when they called his name.

"You already know my name?" asked Momo. "I never realized I'm quite popular here… Well, you can call me Momo-chan then!"

"Eeeeh? H-how… we… ca-can't…!" the smallest one of them didn't know what to say. Momo only smiled brightly. He loved first-years!

"Oy! Momoshiro! Stop playing with them! Your presence distracting them!" a voice could be heard coming from the court as a second-year student with rather longish hair and blue headband came forward. His racket ready in his hand.

"Ceh… Arai, you're no fun. No fun at all," said Momo as he faked pouting and pulled up his camera to took a picture of Arai Masashi's angry face.

"YOU…!"

Arai couldn't finish his sentence because Tezuka already glanced at them.

"What are you guys doing?! Arai! Start your practice!" he gave order from his place. Arai quickly returned to the court. Momo only laughed nervously and waved at him. Kachirou, Katsuo and Horio started to pick up the balls.

When Momo once again started to take pictures around, he saw a boy wearing a white-and-red jacket carrying a big tennis bag. His face was hidden behind the shadow from the hat he wore. The boy was rather small, but looked fast and strong. Interested, Momo took a picture of him before he greeted the said boy.

"Are you lost?" asked Momo being nice.

"No."

Short answer. Momo tried to get a better look and he wasn't please to see the boy's expression.

"What's with that look? Not cute at all…!" said Momoshiro. "You're a first-year, right? Do you want to join tennis club?"

"Who knows?" the boy said coolly as he entered the court. His entrance attracted the attention of all the club members. The freshmen trio which Momo was talking to before stood up and greeted the capped boy. The boy only stood there as the other freshmen seemed to be scolding him for his tardiness. Momo tried to listen, as he got a name of that capped boy.

Echizen Ryoma? So that was him… He remembered Ryuuzaki-sensei and Tezuka-senpai mentioned about the super freshman. Momo smiled as he took a picture of Echizen Ryoma once again. Now was a good time to conduct some research.

* * *

"Momoshiro, you still here?"

"Tezuka-senpai!" Momoshiro looked up at the now captain of tennis club. Tezuka was holding his racket after practice while Momo sorting the shots he got today. "You'll go home soon?" asked Momo.

"Not really," said Tezuka. "Want to play a light match with me?"

"Sure," Momo smiled.

Tezuka lent him one of his rackets before Momo changed into his t-shirt. He always liked the match with Tezuka even though they never really done one set match. They were always stopping in the third or fourth game, since Momo couldn't really play a match. It was to prevent his knee from too much burden and worsening the injury.

Tezuka found it was relaxing to play against Momo, since he knew it was only just for fun. For both of them, the matches had become their ritual every week, after practice. It was a sad fact though that Momo couldn't play a match seriously. From the power of his ball, Tezuka knew what kind of tennis Momo used to play. His power-tennis might-be would match Kawamura's, but Momo couldn't do much with the way he kept protecting his injured foot. It was a great lost. If Momo joined the tennis club, it would make their team became stronger.

Five minutes later they stopped with the score of 3-1. Tezuka didn't intentionally drop one game, but it was hard to predict Momoshiro once he used his most dangerous ability to observe. Tezuka really felt he had lost one of the most valuable players.

"You dropped one game," said Momo.

"I didn't mean it."

"You did."

"I didn't. You purely took that one game from me."

"Liar."

They didn't say anything. Momo was lying on the court with Tezuka beside him. The other team members had already left, so it was only two of them now. They laid there, didn't say anything as they watch the sky turned black. Momo finally stood up to collect his thing. Tezuka followed him and went ahead to the clubhouse.

"Wait a moment," he said. Momo nodded.

As usual, Tezuka would walk Momo home. Momo remembered how he refused the idea at first, but Tezuka insisted though his house was in the opposite direction. He wouldn't let Momo walked alone at night since it was dangerous. Momo told him he could take care of himself since he wasn't some weak girl what-so-ever. Tezuka didn't argue with this, but he still walked Momo home and left without saying a word.

Today was the same as ever. They walked in silence. Momo was walking beside his bike as he enjoyed the comfortable silence until they reached Momoshiro's residence.

"Thank you, senpai. Would you like to come in first?" asked Momo.

"No thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, Momoshiro."

With that, Tezuka left.

* * *

Momo didn't know since when he and Ryoma became close friend. All he could remember now, they used to walk home together, getting burger and so on. Before he knew it, they'd become best friend, with Momo's sunny attitude and Ryoma's lack of words. Right now, the two of them was sat comfortably with a bunch of burgers, fries and cola in front of them.

"Momo-senpai like to eat that much, huh? Aren't you afraid of being fat?" asked Ryoma as he finished his third burger.

"I work out," said Momo. "How about you, Echizen? You sure eat a lot for someone so small…" asked Momo.

"I do sport, Momo-senpai. Unlike someone from newspaper club…"

"Oy oy, that's not nice, Echizen. You can't underestimate someone just because they're from non-sport club."

"Let's have a match then. You play tennis right?"

"I did."

"Then let's go."

They finished their meals quickly before headed to the nearest tennis court. They arrived in a street tennis court and stood there for awhile. They waited for awhile to play, but unfortunately, the court was only for doubles. Momo was starting to debate whether he should play, or let Echizen knew about his injury when Ryoma was talking to what looked like the leader in this court.

Ryoma got back to Momo after awhile and he said he had set up for them to play as doubles. Momo agreed reluctantly, because he knew, someone would scold him if he knew what Momo did.

"Momoshiro."

Momo looked up at the familiar voice coming behind him. He turned around and got himself face to face to Seigaku's captain, still in his school uniform. Tezuka glanced at Momo's jersey and Ryoma's racket in his hand before he scowled.

"What do you intend to do with the racket?" asked Tezuka.

"Playing tennis?" answered Momo weakly.

"You know you can't," said Tezuka. "Not without putting more burdens on your knee."

"It won't be long, Tezuka-senpai. I play doubles with Echizen anyway," said Momo as he gestured to Ryoma who was getting his gear on. When Momo walked towards the court, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Momo turned around and gave Tezuka a questioning look.

"Four games. After that you _will_ stop," said Tezuka.

"Whatever," said Momo. He walked towards Ryoma who was ready.

"Is that Tezuka-buchou? What is he doing here?"

"Dunno," said Momo shortly. "Shall we go?"

They walked into the court and started to play. They won for games easily against four pairs. It was really one sided. Service ace and return ace, Ryoma and Momo didn't give any of them chance. Momo enjoyed it though. But just before they started another game, Tezuka has stood just outside the court with a stern look on his face.

"Buchou?" Ryoma and Momo left the court for awhile.

"It's four games already, Momoshiro. Now go home both of you," said Tezuka.

"Eeh? Why? I'm okay, Tezuka-senpai!" said Momo. "I don't even sweat! It was barely warming up."

Ryoma didn't say anything, but looking into his captain's eyes, he knew Tezuka didn't just playing around. He knew that Tezuka had his own reason to stop the game now, and it seemed like he stopped it because of Momo. Was something wrong with Momo-senpai's condition? He seemed fine when they were eating burgers, and he didn't seem to lose his appetite.

"Ceh, whatever. Let's go, Momo-senpai," said Ryoma as he turned to gather his stuffs.

"Oy, oy, Echizen!" said Momo. But Echizen didn't turn around, and it left only Momo and Tezuka as the game was started to continue on the court. "Hmf, this is your fault, Senpai! I'm not a member of tennis club, and whatever happened to me doesn't concern you. Why do you keep doing this?" asked Momo. He suddenly regretted his words when he realized how harsh it sounded. He glanced towards Tezuka, hoping he would see anger or something.

But none. Tezuka looked at him directly in the eyes.

"Because I care about you, that's why," said Tezuka. "Now go home, Momoshiro."

* * *

"Momo-senpai, why was Tezuka-buchou stopping you from playing the fifth game?" asked Ryoma. "Are you feeling unwell or something?"

"Well, maybe because the tournament just around the corner and he didn't want you to get hurt or something," said Momo.

"Don't take me for a fool, Senpai. I clearly see it that you are the reason he told us to stop. The question is why?"

Ryoma looked at Momo as they stood in the middle of deserted road. Ryoma stared at his senpai as he tried to read the expression of the taller boy. He was expressionless for a second, before a sad smile came to his face.

"Well, because it's impossible for me to play tennis like I did back then…" said Momo as he leaned to the wall on the side of the road. "Not with this knee…" Unconsciously his hand went to his right knee.

"Heeeh? Well, that's unfortunate," said Ryoma. "After watching your serve and return today, I think you might be a good player in tennis team."

"Oy, oy, Echizen, you give me a creep by acting out of character like that," said Momo. "Anyway, I'm going home now. See you tomorrow, Echizen!"

Ryoma waved at the taller boy as he continued his way back home. Suddenly a thought reached his mind. A question he might not find the answer yet.

Why did Tezuka-buchou cared so much for Momo-senpai?

* * *

Tezuka Kunimitsu always considered himself as a cool character. Yup. Cool.

So why he kept blushing after he left Momoshiro and Echizen?!

"_Because I care about you, that's why."_

Didn't it sound like a confession? And why was he questioning himself? Why was he acting so out of character lately? He opened the front door of his house when his mother, Tezuka Ayana greeted him.

"Ara? Kunimitsu, you look flustered. Are you okay?" his mother asked him innocently.

"I'm fine, Mother," said Tezuka. He quickly walked up to his room and locked the door.

What on earth?!

* * *

**A/N : I'm sorry if there're so many OOC-ness... anyway, please review!**


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